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Alvarez shakes off strain, will make next start Sunday

6/8/14: Henderson Alvarez leaves the game with an injury following Luis Valbuena's single in the bottom of the 6th inning

By Joe Frisaro
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MLB.com |

ARLINGTON -- Marlins right-hander Henderson Alvarez received a scare in his last start, but the right-hander didn't suffer a serious setback.

Alvarez strained his left hip on Sunday at Wrigley Field, but the ailment won't prevent him from making his next start, which will be Sunday against the Pirates at Marlins Park.

"I'm going to pitch the entire season," Alvarez said. "Everything was fine. I was good. The only thing is when I fell, it looked ugly. But I could have kept pitching."

The news is a huge relief for the Marlins and Alvarez.

In the sixth inning at Wrigley Field, Alvarez overextended his left leg while making a leaping catch while pulling in Garrett Jones' high flip at first base.

Chicago's Luis Valbuena slapped a sharp grounder that Jones made a nice play on at first. Alvarez, hustling to cover first, was pulled away from the bag by Jones' high flip.

Attempting to touch first, Alvarez lunged his leg backwards, trying to touch the base. Instead, he stumbled awkwardly to the ground.

Testing the hip, he threw one warmup pitch before being replaced. Dan Jennings entered and surrendered a two-run triple to Nate Schierholtz. One of the runs were earned, which meant Alvarez's streak of 26 consecutive scoreless innings was snapped. It's the third longest stretch in club history.

"I wanted to keep pitching," Alvarez said. "I didn't have anything wrong with my body. I wanted to keep pitching. It bothered me they took me out of the game, especially a game I was pitching so well in. I could have continued. But those are things that happen in baseball. I've got to let it go. It's over now. I have to keep looking forward."

Alvarez is ready to start a new streak.

"He seems to be fine," manager Mike Redmond said. "That's good news. It looks like everything is going to be fine, but we'll know more when he throws his bullpen [session]. From what he said, he should be good to go."